1. Field
The following description relates to methods and apparatuses for displaying a three-dimensional image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Three-dimensional (3D) image display apparatuses are being studied for use in various fields such as medical images, games, advertisements, education, military applications, and the like. In addition, research on holography and stereoscopy is also being conducted to display three-dimensional images.
Holographic methods are ideal for displaying 3D images, but one of the drawbacks associated with holography is that a coherent light source is required and it is difficult to record/reproduce an object that is located far away.
In a stereoscopic method, two two-dimensional (2D) images that have a binocular parallax are viewed by left and right eyes of a viewer, respectively, thereby making the image stereoscopic. In the stereoscopic method, two image planes are used, and thus, a 3D image is generated. An example of a stereoscopic method is a glasses-type method in which a viewer uses an auxiliary means, such as eyeglasses, in order for both eyes to see the divided images. Another example of a stereoscopic method is an autostereoscopic method that forms a visual field by dividing the images in a display itself. The autostereoscopic method is generally favorable because the glasses-type method requires additional glasses, and a parallax barrier type and a lenticular lens type are used.
However, because the stereoscopic type three-dimensional image display apparatus only provides images with two viewpoints, a viewer may only see the 3D images within a very restricted region. For example, if the viewer moves his/her head, left and right images are inversed and it may be difficult to see the three-dimensional image.